SAN LEANDRO — An Army veteran was at a loss for words this week as police returned to him military items stolen from the man’s U-Haul truck when he arrived in Oakland this month from the Midwest, police said.

The Army staff sergeant needed a moment as San Leandro police presented him with a U.S. flag he received upon his retirement, and another flag flown at an Army base in Iraq for 9 minutes and 11 seconds in honor of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Lt. Robert McManus said. His shotgun was also returned.

“Please give me a minute to take all this in,” the man told police, McManus said.

The items were found during the arrest of 47-year-old Michael Welch of Oakland on Monday. Welch had multiple warrants for his arrest, including for violating his probation.

When police later searched his home in the 1700 block of 84th Avenue they found a loaded pistol by his bed with its serial number removed, narcotics in his bedroom, and the military goods stashed in the trunk of a car in the driveway, McManus said.

Detectives linked the items to a burglary of a locked U-Haul truck in Oakland on June 4. On Tuesday, they met with the veteran, whom police did not name. They said he served 20 years in the Army, and had been deployed to Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo and served two tours in Iraq. He moved to Oakland after he retired, police said.

Welch was arrested on outstanding arrest warrants, and on suspicion of being a convicted felony in possession of a gun with serial number removed, possession of stolen property, auto theft and drug-related crimes.

David DeBolt is a reporter for the Bay Area News Group who covers Oakland. DeBolt grew up in the Bay Area and has worked for daily newspapers in Palo Alto, Fairfield and Walnut Creek. He joined the organization in 2012.

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